National Geographic Top 10 Photos of 2006

Here’s another Top 10 photos of 2006 series, this time from National Geographic. These giant jellyfish grow up to 2m (6 ft 7 in) in diameter and weigh up to 200kgs (440 lbs) making them #3! Thanks to Clive this photo has actually appeared on fishing fury before. We’ve also got some great photos of jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The rest of your top 10 are just around the bend.

Categories: Incredible, Interesting, Jellyfish, News, Non-Fishing, Photography, Saltwater Species

Sunday December 24th, 2006 @ 6:32 PM | Jonathon Marshall | Comments

Delicious Giant Jellyfish

I know Jon previously wrote about the swarms giant jellyfish that invade the seas around Japan, but I found a few incredible photographs I though I’d share. These huge nomura’s jellyfish can grow up to 2m (6 ft 7 in) in diameter and weigh up to 200kgs (440 lbs). In the past year, numbers of these jelly fish have increased one hundred times. To reduce the numbers of these huge jellyfish the government of Japan has formed a committee. One solution: eat them.

Photos via Pagents Progress

Categories: Culture, Japan, Jellyfish, Saltwater, Sushi & Sashimi

Tuesday October 24th, 2006 @ 5:04 PM | Clive Mathias | Comments

Explosive Jellyfish Sting Caught On Film

Scientists have managed to capture the explosive sting of jellyfish on film using a camera capable of taking 1.4 million frames per second and discover that it’s quite possibly the fastest cellular process in nature. As it turns out Jellyfish can hit with as much force as a bullet, and their explosive cocktail of nerve and blood attacking toxins fire out at the same speed.

Miniature stinger cells, called nematocysts, cloak the tentacles of jellyfish in their thousands and each harbours a deadly cocktail of toxins that attack the nerves and blood of their victims. Injecting the poisons into prey requires a discharge forceful enough to break through the shells of crustaceans.

When the tentacle touches its prey the lid of the nematocyst flips open, triggering the folded collagen spring to release outwards. This ejects a sharp spine, known as a stylet. The stylet pierces the external barrier of the prey with a pressure of more than 7 billion Pascals – in the range of that generated by a bullet fired from a gun.

Check out the short but cool video, 240,000 frames per second (143kb Quicktime).

Categories: Interesting, Jellyfish, News, Photography

Tuesday May 9th, 2006 @ 9:20 PM | Jonathon Marshall | Comments

Japanese Fishermen Turn Sea Monsters Into Dinner

When local Japanese fisherman found their buisness threatened by sea monsters, in this case 6-foot long 450 pound poisonous jellyfish, they decided to do something about it and make these monsters into food. Though jellyfish is far more popular in China, Japanese people have begun eating them dried and salted as a sort of novelty food. College students have even turned them in to tofu and jellyfish collagen is apparently very beneficial for your skin.

Categories: Culture, Fishing, Food, Interesting, Japan, Jellyfish, News, Oddities, Saltwater

Thursday December 8th, 2005 @ 6:05 PM | Jonathon Marshall | 1 Comment